Ghost in the Hunt

by Moeller, Jonathan

  Nasser smiled and said nothing, and Kalgri’s eyes turned to Caina.

  “And you, Balarigar?” said Kalgri. “Have you no clever words for me? No taunts, no challenges?”

  She heard the metallic clank as Strabane and Laertes finished reloading the ballista.

  “What is left to be said?” said Caina. “You want to kill me, and I want to stop you. I fail to see how there is any room for discussion.”

  Kalgri smiled. “You always have clever words. I have followed you for months, Balarigar. I know how you think.”

  “If that is true,” said Caina, “then why haven’t you killed me already?”

  Kalgri’s smile vanished, and another flicker of purple fire went over her eyes, brighter than before. She stared up at Caina, her head tilted as if listening. Likely she was communing with the Voice.

  “Because,” said Kalgri at last, “there’s something I want to do first.”

  “Something that you want to do?” said Caina. “Or the nagataaru that is wearing you like a cheap dress?”

  “Ah,” said Kalgri with a little sigh of pleasure. “It is good to talk with someone who understands. I almost regret that I must kill you. Usually my prey die with such looks of stunned incomprehension upon their faces.”

  “Then come up here,” said Caina. “There’s no need for you to die in ignorance, either.”

  “I would rather,” said Kalgri, “that you come down here.”

  Caina laughed. “So you can kill me? I will not do your work for you.”

  “It is not quite the time for killing, not yet,” said Kalgri. “I wish to have a short talk with you, Ghost. A few secrets exchanged, secrets that only you and I share. Then I will offer you a choice, and will permit you to return to the walls of Silent Ash Temple before I kill you.”

  “Why?” said Caina. “What do we possibly have to talk about?”

  “Idle curiosity,” said Kalgri. “A few questions I would like to ask. Since you’re going to die before midnight, I won’t have another chance. There is also the matter of whether you shall die slowly or quickly.”

  “Why would I come down to talk to you?” said Caina.

  “Because I know you,” said Kalgri. “I’ve studied you for months. You’re not an assassin or a swordsman or a fighter. You’re a spy, and you take secrets and fashion them into weapons. Who knows? I might let slip some important secret, some bit of knowledge you could use to defeat me.” She smirked, the purple fire in her eyes flashing brighter. “Isn’t that worth the risk?”

  Caina said nothing.

  But the hell of it was…Kalgri was right. If Caina could keep Kalgri talking, the Huntress might reveal something important. Something useful.

  Something that might save their lives. The valikon could save their lives, but Kalgri was so damned fast. The Huntress might slay them all before Nasser could bring the weapon to bear, to say nothing of what her pet kadrataagu might do.

  “If you fear for your safety,” said Kalgri with amusement, “I promise neither I nor my servants shall harm you, and that after we conclude our discussion I will let you return to your companions. Unless you attack first, of course.”

  “Your promises,” said Nasser, “are worth considerably less than the breath you use to make them.”

  “Of course,” said Kalgri. “My word means nothing. But I will kill the Balarigar tonight, my lord of ashes. Either right now, or when our discussion is concluded. I prefer to have some questions answered first, though.” She tilted her head to the side again, listening. “I prefer that very much.”

  Caina blinked. The Voice itself wanted to talk with her? That seemed unlikely. Yet the great nagataaru calling itself Kotuluk Iblis had spoken to her in the netherworld. Kotuluk Iblis had inadvertently revealed information to her, something about a pact and a creature called the Azure Sovereign. Perhaps Kalgri and her damned Voice would do the same.

  “All right,” said Caina.

  Kalgri gestured, and the kadrataagu backed off, moving to the corners of the terrace beneath the colonnade.

  “This is an extremely bad idea,” said Claudia.

  “Probably,” said Caina.

  “You shouldn’t go down there,” said Claudia.

  “Almost certainly,” said Caina. “But it might be worth the risk.”

  “A very great risk, to be sure,” said Nasser. “Do you want the weapon?”

  “Keep it with you,” said Caina “If Kalgri goes back on her word and kills me, you’ll need it when she comes for you.”

  “You are truly going to trust that murderous madwoman?” said Martin.

  “Trust isn’t necessary,” said Caina. “I must know something that she wants to know. She won’t kill me until she’s sure of it, or until she’s certain that I don’t have any tricks or traps up my sleeve.”

  “Very well,” said Martin. “But at the first sign of treachery, I will have Laertes shoot her.”

  Caina nodded and descended the wall, walking to the gate. There was a small postern door within the gate, and she opened it and walked onto the broad terrace outside of Silent Ash Temple. Kalgri awaited her in the center of the terrace, her blood-colored cloak rippling around her in the cool wind, her shadow long and black as the sun grew dimmer to the west.

  Caina stopped a dozen paces from the Red Huntress and waited, her hands resting upon the hilts of the weapons at her belt.

  For a moment they stared at each other, Kalgri’s eyes flickering with purple fire. Caina felt the full weight of Kalgri’s attention, and more, the malevolent will of the Voice stirring behind her eyes.

  “Nasser,” said Kalgri at last, “doesn’t know that you are a woman, does he?”

  “Noticed that, did you?” said Caina.

  “Clever of you,” said Kalgri. “He is a hard man to fool. Or to kill. Which I intend to rectify shortly.”

  “He says,” said Caina, “that he defeated you once before.”

  “Sheer luck,” said Kalgri. “I shall be more careful this time.” She grinned. “Tell me. Has he told you his secret yet? Has he told you who he really is?”

  “He doesn’t know I am a woman,” said Caina. “I suspect he has his secrets as well. Is he really a woman, too?”

  That caused Kalgri to laugh. “No. But Grand Master Callatas wants him dead. He, too, has no idea that you are a woman. I look forward to seeing the surprise on that dusty old face when he learns the truth. You can’t have children, can you?”

  The sudden shift in topic caught Caina off-guard for a moment. “I suppose you learned that by listening to me?” Though she could not remember mentioning it to Agabyzus or Damla, at least not since Kalgri had come to the House of Agabyzus.

  “No. Merely by watching you,” said Kalgri. “The hunter studies the prey carefully before the killing blow. If you had anything to live for, anything at all, you would not risk your life so flagrantly.”

  “I would risk my life less,” said Caina, “if you were not trying to kill me.”

  “Mmm,” said Kalgri. “You are very good at killing. Think how much more effective you would be with the power of a nagataaru at your command.” The sound of the Voice entered her words as she spoke, harsher and deeper and inhuman.

  Caina laughed. “Is that what this is? A recruitment?”

  “Unlikely, I know,” said Kalgri. “But you understand the truth. The nature of life is death. The purpose of a living thing is to die. Those of us who feed upon death will grow ever stronger.”

  “You feed upon torture and agony as well,” said Caina.

  Kalgri grinned, her eyes flashing. “Spice for the meal. You could know such meals as well.”

  “No,” said Caina. “No. And in case you misunderstood, I will repeat it a third time. No.”

  Kalgri shrugged. “Pity. Still. There is one thing I wonder. Where did you find Annarah’s pyrikon?”

  Caina blinked. Nasser had said the pyrikons had once belonged to the loremasters of Istarinmul, their shields and tools and their badges of
office. Undoubtedly the pyrikon she carried had belonged to one of the loremasters Callatas had killed.

  But if it was Annarah’s pyrikon…could she use it to find Annarah? To find the Staff and Seal of Iramis before Callatas did?

  Perhaps she could get Kalgri to say more.

  Caina lifted her chin. “And how could you possibly know that?”

  “Because I knew Annarah,” said Kalgri. “I tried to kill her, but she eluded me, and another of the Grand Master’s hirelings took her into the desert and slew her.”

  “You cannot possibly know that,” said Caina.

  “You would be surprised,” said Kalgri. She licked her lips, her dark eyes glimmering with malicious delight. “When you meet wraithblood addicts…have you noticed how they panic around you?”

  “Once or twice,” said Caina.

  “Do you know why?”

  “They see a shadow around me,” said Caina. “It fills them with fear.”

  Kalgri clicked her tongue. “But do you know what the shadow is?”

  “Yes,” lied Caina. “Do you?”

  “You should thank me,” said Kalgri. “When I kill you today, the shadow will be averted. It is your future, you see, the mark of something you will do in the days yet to come. Like the shadow of a fire yet to be lit.”

  “Absurd,” said Caina. “The future cannot change the present.”

  “No,” said Kalgri. “But spirits do not see time as we do. They see the shadow of what you will do in days to come, a shadow that marks you even now. That is why the nagataaru want you dead so badly. You might interfere with Callatas’s precious Apotheosis.”

  “His Apotheosis,” said Caina. “What is it? Why go to such trouble? Why murder thousands of slaves and create wraithblood? Why summon the nagataaru and bind them in living flesh? Why send you to kill me?”

  Kalgri grinned, and there was no hint of humanity in her black eyes, only an endless and ravenous hunger. In that moment Caina realized that Kalgri no longer had the tiniest shred of mercy or compassion. Perhaps she had still possessed them when she been a strong-willed slave who had murdered to protect her position, perhaps feeling regret or guilt. But decades of communion with the Voice had twisted her mind into something as cold and alien as any of the nagataaru.

  The Voice didn’t need to turn Kalgri into a kadrataagu. Kalgri had made herself into the Red Huntress of her own free will.

  “Food,” said Kalgri.

  “Food?” said Caina. “Food for what?”

  “Callatas doesn’t know it yet,” said Kalgri. “But he will.” She spread her arms, her leather armor creaking. “Which brings us to the main point of this little parley.”

  “And that is?” said Caina.

  “You’re going to die here, Caina Amalas,” said Kalgri. “That is unavoidable. The only question is how many others have to die with you.”

  “Let me guess,” said Caina. “If I give myself up, you’ll let the others go?”

  “Of course not,” said Kalgri. “I’ve wanted to kill Nasser for years. Your sorceress dared to try to banish the Voice. Perhaps I’ll kill her precious fool of a husband in front her.” Kalgri smiled at the thought. “That would be a fitting retribution. I’ll kill the others as well. And then the false oracle and all her priests, since I assume you fled here for aid.”

  “So if I fight you’ll kill us all, and if I surrender you’ll kill us all? That is not a compelling offer,” said Caina. “Are you new to the art of negotiation?”

  “Oh, the life of everyone in Silent Ash Temple is forfeit,” said Kalgri. “The only question for you is whether or not the killing stops there.”

  “What do you mean?” said Caina.

  “I’ve been following you for months,” said Kalgri. “You’ve built quite the little Ghost circle in Istarinmul, have you not? If you don’t surrender yourself to me, if you don’t let me kill you without a fight, I will kill every last one of them.”

  Caina said nothing.

  “I think I will start with Agabyzus,” said Kalgri. “Then I will move on to Damla. Perhaps I’ll kill her sons in front of her first. Bayram and Bahad, those are their names, yes? She was so grateful when you rescued them from Ulvan. How do you think she’ll feel when they die in front of her? Or maybe I’ll do it the other way around. I’ll hire a company of mercenaries and let each and every one of them have their way with Damla, and I’ll make the boys watch their mother squeal and beg before I finally let her die.”

  “That is monstrous,” said Caina.

  “Their suffering will make their deaths all the more powerful,” said Kalgri. “It won’t stop there, either. That mad locksmith, Nerina Strake? I’ll kill her bodyguard in front of her, and then I’ll kill her. That widow whose house you saved in the Old Quarter? I’ll kill her, too. All those informants you created, all the allies you made, everyone who ever helped you, I will wipe out every last one of them.”

  “You’ll do that anyway,” said Caina, “regardless of what I do. The Teskilati destroyed the Ghost circle after the war with the Empire, but I wager you had something to do with it.”

  “I did nothing,” said Kalgri. “I was otherwise engaged at the time. But now, Balarigar…if you do not surrender yourself to me, I will turn my hand against everyone you ever met in Istarinmul. Their deaths will not be quick. I have slain children in front of their mothers. I have killed pregnant women in front of their husbands. And I shall use every technique and every bit of experience I have to make the deaths of your allies as painful as possible.”

  Caina shivered with fury, taking a moment to collect herself. “No.”

  “No?” said Kalgri, amused. “You cannot defeat me. You condemn your allies and friends to tortures beyond your imagination.”

  “Threats,” said Caina.

  “No, not threats,” said Kalgri. “I do not make threats. I simply state promises. I will kill you…and if you resist, I will exact a price in death from everyone who has ever helped you in Istarinmul.”

  “But you’re not entirely sure about that, are you?” said Caina.

  Kalgri said nothing.

  “Else you would just attack and kill us all,” said Caina. “We almost killed you at Drynemet. You don’t know if we have another trick. Someone could die here, Huntress, but it might be you.”

  Still Kalgri said nothing. The Huntress had the instincts of a predator…and no predator could survive for a century and a half without a keen sense of danger. Kalgri had to know that Caina had a trick up her sleeve, even if she did not know about the valikon.

  “I shall give you one hour to consider your folly,” said Kalgri, glancing at the sky. “Until moonrise, let us say. Then I will enter the temple and kill you and everyone else, and you shall die knowing that you have condemned your allies to death.”

  “Maybe,” said Caina, and she walked toward the colonnade once more. She felt the Huntress’s eyes upon her, saw the kadrataagu stir as she walked past, but the creatures did not attack. Caina slipped through the postern gate and closed it behind her.

  Caina let out a long, shaking breath, and tried to figure out what to do next.

  A plan came to her, but the price of it left her cold.

  Chapter 19 - At The End

  “What did she say?” said Martin.

  Caina stepped back onto the rampart. The Huntress still stood motionless below, her cloak rippling around her. The kadrataagu paced back and forth along the colonnade, close enough that Laertes and Strabane could not hit them with the ballista.

  “She says that if we fight her,” said Caina, “she will kill me, kill all of you, kill everyone else she can find in the Temple, and then kill everyone who ever helped me in Istarinmul.”

  Strabane grunted. “That is quite a grudge.”

  “It’s not a grudge,” said Caina. “It’s what she is. She’s been possessed by the Voice for so long that she thinks like a nagataaru. The spirit within her feeds off death and pain. Even if we hadn’t hindered her, even if we hadn’t wo
unded her at Drynemet, she would still kill us because it gives her power.”

  “Damned devils,” said Strabane. He spat over the wall. “Be a better world if damned sorcerers didn’t meddle with the damned netherworld.” He glanced at Claudia. “Meaning no offense, my lady.”

  “None taken, as I agree entirely,” said Claudia.

  “Surely she did not parley with you just to make threats,” said Nasser. “She must have wanted something.”

  “Perhaps she wished to simply rattle your morale,” said Laertes. “Men often make such boasts before battle.”

  “She’s not a man,” said Caina, “and there’s very little humanity left within her. No. She wanted to make an offer. If I go out to her and let her kill me without resistance, she’ll kill me, and she’ll still kill you, but she will spare my allies in Istarinmul.”

  “That is a very poor deal,” said Nasser.

  “She knows that,” said Caina. “She is negotiating from a position of strength.”

  “Even if you accept this deal,” said Martin, “I suspect she will kill your allies after you are dead out of spite.”

  “I have no intention of taking any deal,” said Caina. “At least one that doesn’t allow you to escape.”

  Claudia frowned. “Surely you are not…”

  “But the reason she is even offering that deal,” said Nasser, “is because she suspects you have laid a trap for her.”

  “Or that the Emissary has told you how to kill her,” said Claudia.

  “I thought as much,” said Caina. She looked at Nasser. “Before we do anything, I found out something you need to know. My pyrikon. Kalgri said that it was Annarah’s.”

  Nasser blinked. “You are certain?”

  “Kalgri was, anyway,” said Caina. “She recognized it. Likely she fought Annarah after the fall of Iramis.”

  “That will be useful knowledge once we are victorious,” said Nasser. “Perhaps we can use it to track down Annarah.”